


Advantage

by OrionRedde, Shyrstyne



Series: Cometverse [21]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, kairi doesn't die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 20:26:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18534874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionRedde/pseuds/OrionRedde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyrstyne/pseuds/Shyrstyne
Summary: Lea looks into the eyes of a friend and sees an enemy. Kairi uses unique abilities to her advantage.





	Advantage

**Author's Note:**

> I won't lie, i've been staring at this fic all week trying to figure out what's bugging me about it, but eventually a person has to just accept that this is how it be and post the damn thing.

Lea curses.

This  _ sucks _ .

He knew it was going to suck. They all knew it was going to suck. But even the heat of battle and adrenaline doesn’t make fighting his oldest friend any easier. It didn’t make being thrown to the ground and struck through with lasers any better. And it certainly didn’t make losing his new keyblade, sitting helpless in the dirt with his former best friend standing over him ready to strike him down, any more bearable.

_ Idiot. _

He grins, and sasses, because that’s all he knows how to do, but he can feel the End coming. Again. He doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to go. He has too much he’s worked towards.

And then.

_ And then _ .

Stars bloom behind his eyes and he  _ remembers _ . Open holes in his life, in his heart, things he hadn’t really known were missing slotting into place like they’d never even left. Xion.  _ Xion _ ! He doesn’t know how he forgot, or why. It’s all a jumbled mess. But it doesn’t matter.  _ Xion is there _ .

And Xemnas is talking again (stars, does the man know how to shut up?), he flash steps and then-

No!

He has Kairi by the arm, and Lea grits his teeth, bleeding and prone and wishing he could do anything at all.

He sees her shift, tail sprouting and ears lengthening, and curses again.

_ “Never shift to were form during battle.” He’d told her during training. She’d looked up at him quizzically. _

_ “Why not?” _

_ “Even the fastest shifters have to take those seconds to complete a change. In a battle those seconds could mean your life. No amount of additional power is worth the possible cost.” _

_ She had nodded thoughtfully, and he’d assumed she’d heard him. “Some people can,” He’d continued, “it’s something of an art form, but you’re too new in combat to be messing around with specialised things like that. You need to stick to your strengths, which is your speed, small frame, and your Light magic.” _

_ “Shouldn’t you be sticking to your chakrams then?” She’d teased, impish grin on her face. He pouts. _

_ “Hey now, we’re still here to learn. Besides, I will definitely be using those too. And copious amounts of fire. Any advantage you can take in battle is a good advantage.” _

Xemnas has her by the arm, he sees the fur sprout, and curses.

She doesn’t try to wrest away like he expects though.

Instead she desummons her keyblade, twists her free arm back, and throws a Holy directly into his face. In the split second he’s blinded he releases her and she ducks under his arm, twisting behind him. She darts around, skipping over and under and around until she’s back in the safety of their now much larger group.

For a moment he wants to be angry, there had been every chance that her gambit could have failed, but then he realises she had in fact taken his advice.

She’d used Holy to stun her assailant. She’d used her smaller frame (even in were form she stood smaller than xemnas) to her advantage.  She hadn’t tried to overpower him, instead using her were-enhanced speed to get to where they could push their advantage as a group. That was  _ smart. _

He can’t take credit, because really, they hadn’t practiced that. He’d only made one comment, laid the seed. She was the one who’d thought smart in the moment and acted quickly. He couldn’t be more proud.

And now?

And now even if he is still injured and out of it, they are up two more wielders, squaring off against Xemnas and Saix. In any other situation, he’d be grinning at the sudden turn in the tides. He was, even, until he saw Saix raise his claymore once more.

This battle isn’t over yet.

Xion gives him a grin. Roxas mirrors it.

“We’ll protect you this time.” Roxas nods with determination. Sora and Kairi both settle into battle ready, Roxas and Xion flanking them.

Stars willing, he won’t have gained back two friends only to lose another one.

_ Fine _ , he thinks, looking into the uncaring gold glow of his once-best-friends eyes.

_ Here we go _ .

**Author's Note:**

> and then kairi doesn't die because that'd be a stupid fucking plot point


End file.
